Russian sets off for around-the-world record in hot air balloon

ABS-CBN News

Fedor Konyukhov, 64, has set course for his solo flight across the globe aboard a hot air balloon as part of his attempt to break the previous world record.

The Russian adventurer left off from Western Australia's Northam Aero Club, the exact spot where American aviator Steve Fossett left for his circumnavigation in 2002. Fossett set the record at 13 and a half days.

Konyukhov, an Orthodox priest, has previously climbed Mount Everest, rowed 16,000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean, and walked the North and South Poles.